Group asks to intervene in Ark. abortion case

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - An anti-abortion counseling organization in Arkansas is asking to intervene in the federal case over a state law that bans most abortions 12 weeks into a pregnancy.

Attorneys for Concepts of Truth, Inc. asked a federal judge to intervene as a defendant in the lawsuit challenging the new abortion restriction. The Wynne-based organization provides counseling to pregnant women who are considering having an abortion and says it operates a national call center to counsel women who have had the procedure.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas and the Center for Reproductive Rights sued the state over the ban last month. The groups filed the suit on behalf of Dr. Louis Jerry Edwards and Dr. Tom Tvedten, who provide abortions at a Little Rock clinic.